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NEW DELHI: You could soon buy the Scorpio SUV in Delhi and register it, too, as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has found a way to go around the Supreme Court order suspending registration of vehicles strapped with diesel engines bigger than 2.0 litres.

The company has made a smaller version of the mHawk engine that powers the Scorpio and XUV 500, several industry sources with knowledge of the matter told ET. The new engine is of 1.9 litres, smaller than the 2.2-litre plant that traditionally powers the SUV, bringing it within the limits set by the court for registration of diesel vehicles.

Aprototype of the new Scorpio with the trimmed-down engine has been approved by the Automotive Research Association of India and it will reach dealerships for sale soon, the sources said. While the Scorpio is the first vehicle to get the smaller power plant, the more premium XUV 500 too will get it starting February, they said.

"Currently, the XUV 500 (with the smaller engine) is under certification process," one of them said. The company will offer the new versions of the popular SUVs across the country, though the three-month suspension of registration covers only the National Capital Region, comprising Delhi and its satellite cities.

There is apprehension in the auto industry that the curbs on diesel vehicles could be extended and expanded. The increasing awareness about the need to lower emissions and the push towards cleaner fuels, too, could affect sales of big diesel vehicles, which are the mainstay for M&M. Though the NCR accounts for just 4% of M&M's passenger vehicle sales, the company is eager to avoid the larger risks.

M&M is examining the options it has to ensure it complies with the court order, an executive said in the company's official comment. "It is premature for us to share any details," a company email read. M&M had done the engine downsizing in-house, though the engine mapping work was outsourced to a supplier, a source in the know of the mater said. "Despite downsizing the power, the torque is expected to be maintained at the level offered with the 2.2-litre engine." He didn't provide further details.

The company has done the work quite fast as industry experts say it takes time to develop an engine or even downsize one. "Generally, engine downsizing takes about two years to redesign and develop the parts and for engine calibration. Complexity depends on what is being changed to downsize the engine," said IV Rao, former R&D head at Maruti Suzuki. "It takes a lot of changes in the components of the engine, and major changes are required in pistons and cylinder block," another executive, who works at a company that specialises in redesigning and developing engines, said on the condition of anonymity.

Afew days after the Supreme Court order, M&M executive director Pawan Goenka had said the company would look at the possibility of redesigning the engine. "We are certainly prepared for all eventualities. We are coming up with a petrol line-up, which will be made available over a period of time. This will be our defence over something like this," he had said.

The utility vehicle manufacturer was the most impacted by the ban as its top selling products — Bolero, Scorpio, XUV500, Thar and Xylo — all have diesel engines larger than 2 litres. These five models contribute about 95% of the company's total sales. M&M recently introduced a new family of 1.2-litre diesel and petrol engines called the mFalcon. The company's KUV100 will be the first vehicle to be powered by this engine family.

The Mahindra TUV 300, launched in September 2015 with a 1.5-litre engine, wasn't impacted by the Supreme Court ruling. Mahindra accounted for 41% of the utility vehicle market in December, selling 20,437 units. Between April and December, it had 31% of the total UV market, selling nearly 1.6 lakh units.